|
|
| Photo News |
Last updated: Tue 01 Jul 2008 10:53 AM BST |
|
Go Daddy Rooting for Their ‘Girl’ to Rule the Pool!
|
Spain Wins the Euro 2008 Championships.
|
Obama and Clinton
|
|
Thursday, October 13
Get Involved
by
Mnet
on Thu 13 Oct 2005 02:26 PM PDT
Metcalfe's Law - named for 3Com Corporation founder Robert M. Metcalfe '68 - states that the usefulness or utility of a network equals the square of the number of users. In other words, the more people involved in a network, the higher its value. This law holds true at Mpelembe Network, where students, professionals, and alumni routinely reap benefits from their involvement that far exceed the effort they expend.
Innovation in Post-Launch Surveillance and Pharmaco-Vigilance
by
Mnet
on Thu 13 Oct 2005 01:33 PM PDT
These panelists describe struggling to transform their approach to drug safety, while acknowledging the need to regain public trust after troubling episodes involving drug side effects.
Névine Zariffa
points out that "no clinical trial program known to man will ever help predict every single instance of everything that might happen in the big, wide world." But, she wonders, "What can we do better to link up what we discover through the clinical trial process relative to what happens in the real world?" One idea: a Center for Biomedical Information SWAT team to deal with FDA drug alerts.
"The whole country is moving slowly, but moving" toward capturing patient records, imaging information, and even genomic and proteomic data electronically, reports John Glaser. Partners HealthCare holds a clinical data repository for
3.3 million people, from academic medical centers to community hospitals. This kind of database may help track "consistent drug interactions" as well as notify patients at risk when a side effect becomes apparent.
"Even if you think that drug reviewers look at newspaper accounts, if they focus more on drug safety, wouldn't that slow review times? The answer is no," claims Randall Lutter. He says that the FDA has not slowed approval times to appease a worried public, nor has it sacrificed science to please manufacturers eager for rapid drug approval. Rather, the agency's concerned with getting accurate warnings on drug packages at the time of their launch, and disseminating information earlier to the public.
In the early 60s, says Johanna Haas, when the use of Thalidomide was linked to terrible congenital deformities, legislation resulted that transformed the safety rules: "The onus shift(ed) to the company to prove the drug should be marketed, rather than to the FDA to prove it shouldn't." Now, a post-Vioxx paradigm is emerging, where drug makers are trying to track subtle side effects in enormous populations. The only answer is to set up databases running from the earliest clinical trials through the drug's launch. "You take something that's going to evolve over the course of years. You don't want it forgotten and tucked into a clinical study report that's forgotten until it emerges as a public policy issue later on and you say, 'Hmm, curious.'"
Profile: Steve Jobs
by
Mnet
on Thu 13 Oct 2005 12:31 PM PDT
|
|
|
Founder/CEO/Chairman of the Board/Director at
Pixar
US
TECHNOLOGY / MULTIMEDIA & GRAPHICS SOFTWARE
Officer since February 1986
Director since February 1986
50 years old |
|
 Track This Person |
Mr. Jobs is a co-founder of Pixar and has served as Chairman since March 1991, and as Chief Executive Officer since February 1986. He has been a director of Pixar since February 1986. In addition, Mr. Jobs is currently Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Apple Computer, Inc.
Steve Jobs has been listed in Forbes'
World's Richest People, 400 Richest Americans
and America's Most Powerful People
.
Google, Comcast Seeking a Stake in AOL
by
Mnet
on Thu 13 Oct 2005 12:13 PM PDT
Time Warner is serious about selling a stake in AOL, though it would clearly like us all to think otherwise. The company
insists it has no plans to share the long-suffering property, saying it's certain it will someday fuel future growth in online ad revenue. But sources close to the company say it's been shopping the property like a house built on an Indian graveyard. Last month, Time Warner was said to be in talks with Microsoft about combining AOL and MSN, a relationship that almost certainly would have ended AOL's longstanding partnership with Google (see "
Microsoft+AOL: Where is your God now?"). Today, sources close to the company say
it's talking to Google and Comcast about a partnership that would see the two take a minority stake in AOL. People familiar with the discussions said
talks between the companies only began last week and were at an early stage
. No telling yet what will happen moving forward, although certainly Google has the will and need to push a deal like this through.
AOL, after all, accounted for 11 percent of Google's $2.6 billion in revenue during the first half of this year . Perhaps equally important here is AOL's instant messaging network, which could prove quite a bargaining chip for Time Warner in the aftermath of yesterday's IM interoperability agreement between Microsoft and Yahoo (see "
Microsoft adds Yahoo to growing buddy list"). Elegant as it is, Google Talk, Google's IM client, isn't exactly zooming to ubiquity. Were it to granted access to the AIM network and its
41.6 million subscribers, the company would surely see a nice uptick in usage and would gain a base for the telephony-over-IM battle we'll undoubtedly be seeing in the months ahead.
Musical breast implants
by
Mnet
on Thu 13 Oct 2005 12:11 PM PDT
Computer chips that store music could soon be built into a woman's breast implants.
One boob could hold an MP3 player and the other the person's whole music collection.
BT futurology, who have developed the idea, say it could be available within 15 years.
BT Laboratories' analyst Ian Pearson said flexible plastic electronics would sit inside the breast. A signal would be relayed to headphones, while the device would be controlled by Bluetooth using a panel on the wrist.
According to The Sun he said: "It is now very hard for me to thing of breast implants as just decorative. If a woman has something implanted permanently, it might as well do something useful."
The senors around the body linked through the electrical impulses in the chips may also be able to warn wearers about heart murmurs, blood pressure increases, diabetes and breast cancer.
Ananova.com
Bankruptcy Changes Bite the Rich
by
Mnet
on Thu 13 Oct 2005 06:38 AM PDT
|
Time is undoubtedly running out for Americans seeking bankruptcy protection before a tough new bankruptcy code kicks in Monday. Among the more stringent rules is a tightening of limits for people whose income exceeds their state's median income in the six months before filing. Those folks may not be able to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which lets consumers dump their debts and start afresh altogether, but instead be forced into a Chapter 13 filing, which entails repaying creditors under a court-approved plan. Wealthy bankruptcy filers also will be restricted if they were planning to hang on to their palaces under "homestead exemptions."
-- Gregg Greenberg, TheStreet.com |
HandHeld CEO 'Welcomes' Apple Ipod Video
by
Mnet
on Thu 13 Oct 2005 06:34 AM PDT
HandHeld Entertainment Statement about Apple Computer's 'Video iPod'; HandHeld CEO 'Welcomes' Apple Computer to the Portable Video Player Marketplace
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 12, 2005--
| |
At $99, the current ZVUE is priced at one-third the price of the least expensive video iPod, while the next-generation ZVUE (pre-announced on Monday) will be priced at $149, less than half the iPod video player price
|
|
HandHeld Entertainment(TM), one of the pioneers in the portable video marketplace, today issued the following statement regarding Apple Computer's forthcoming video iPod.
"We welcome Apple and Mr. Jobs to a market that we pioneered," said Jeff Oscodar, president and chief executive officer of HandHeld Entertainment. "Years ago, we knew that people wanted to watch video on handheld devices and we have been satisfying that demand. Apple's announcement earlier today about its plans to begin shipping an iPod video player validates our vision.
"Apple's iPod product line is certainly in flux -- or should I say it's in a 'Shuffle?' I wonder how Nano purchasers feel now. We at HandHeld Entertainment don't treat our customers with such disregard. That's why we are introducing a complete ZVUE(TM) family of portable video devices at CES this coming January. That way, consumers can be free to choose the product that's best for them.
"And one more thing, our products are affordable. All of the products in the ZVUE product family will cost less than the cheapest iPod that supports video."
HandHeld Entertainment announced a next-generation ZVUE on Monday of this week, a device that will have a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $149, less than half the vPod's SRP. The next-generation ZVUE will feature on-board flash memory, a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, and be compatible with Windows Media Video (WMV) and Windows Media Audio (WMA) through the use of Microsoft's secure Digital Rights Management (DRM) software. (See a copy of the news release at
http://www.hheld.com/news/20051010.html.)
HandHeld Entertainment announced its first ZVUE in mid-2003 with a $99 price point and shipped its first units before Christmas 2003. Version 1.1 is currently available online and in more than 1,500 retailers throughout the United States, including selected Wal-Mart stores and Discovery Channel Store locations nationwide.
The next-generation ZVUE (visit http://ftp.hheld.com/zvue_photos/ for digital photos) will utilize a thinner housing than the original ZVUE and will be available in new colors. HandHeld will publicly unveil the next-generation ZVUE in January at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show held in Las Vegas. The company plans to have multiple ZVUE models available for purchase in 2006, including both the original and the next-generation ZVUE models.
ZVUEs give digital media lovers the ability to take their favorite video, audio and digital picture content on-the-go by simply downloading films and music from the ZVUE download Web site,
http://www.zvue.com/downloads/ and other content sites. About the size of a pack of playing cards, the highly-portable ZVUE plays videos, music and audio files that can be taken anywhere, any time.
About HandHeld Entertainment
HandHeld Entertainment is the world's first portable digital entertainment company to offer mass-market portable media players at mass-market prices via mass-market distribution at more than 1,500 retail locations across the United States. ZVUE users can download thousands of free media titles at
www.zvue.com/downloads. For more information, visit http://www.zvue.com
or call 415-495-6470.
HandHeld Entertainment and ZVUE are trademarks of HandHeld Entertainment. |
 |
| Contacts |
|
|
Yahoo! Search Marketing Launches ``Life Series''
by
Mnet
on Wed 12 Oct 2005 06:15 PM PDT
Yahoo! Search Marketing Launches ``Life Series'' to Explore Relationships Between Major Life Events and Internet Search Habits; New Research Finds That Search Plays a Significant Role with College Students and New Parents
PASADENA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 12, 2005--Today, Yahoo! Search Marketing, the paid search unit of Yahoo! Inc., announced the first results of a research endeavor that explores the relationship between life-evolving experiences and online search behavior. The research series, titled "The Life Series," aims to identify ways in which advertisers and consumers can benefit from one another throughout the dynamics of life events, utilizing search as the critical point of engagement.
"The Life Series" research was developed based on the belief that adults go through various life events -- experiences that fundamentally change the way a person lives their life -- throughout the course of their lifetime. These events could include going to college, having a baby, moving to a new city and retiring. Yahoo! Search Marketing has identified 10-15 such life events to explore in this research study. The first two life events explored in the series were going to college and having a baby.
The initial key findings in this research revealed that people experiencing such events share certain common characteristics, including a desire for trusted information sources, heavy reliance on research prior to making decisions and increased time spent on research during their life event.
Additional key findings from the research include:
-- 86% of new parents-to-be said they use the Internet to search about information on pregnancy, as compared to books (68%), friends/family (53%) and magazines (37%).
-- 54% of new parents said search simplified their lives more so than magazines (17%) or TV (10%)
-- 81% of college students rate search as their best source of information, followed by friends and family (64%), newspapers (36%) and TV (24%)
The research findings also showed that life events link online and offline worlds. For parents-to-be, search is an essential and complementary tool when learning about their potential purchases, but many purchases for their new babies will ultimately be made offline. College students are much more likely to make purchases online, except for larger investments, where they still trust offline channels more.
"People are more likely to consider new products and brands as they move through different life stages. Our research tells us that web search represents a trusted and highly used source for information," said David Karnstedt, senior vice president and general manager for direct business at Yahoo! Search Marketing. "To own a consumer's point of entry into a product category and develop long-lasting relationships is every marketer's goal. What we are doing now is gaining more insight into how our customers can accomplish this via search."
To obtain information for "The Life Series," Yahoo! Search Marketing used a comprehensive three-phase research approach focusing on qualitative ethnography, qualitative surveys and click stream analysis. Yahoo! Search Marketing teamed up with Compete, Greenberg Brand Strategy and Hall & Partners to conduct "The Life Series" research:
QUALITATIVE ETHNOGRAPHY:
The qualitative portion of the research was conducted by Greenberg Brand Strategy using an ethnographic approach (documentary style interviewing) to determine the "why." Research got up close and personal with two types of consumers from two life stages: college students and new parents. Interviews were conducted at their dorms and homes, and examined their preferred shopping activities.
QUANTITATIVE SURVEY:
In order to capture attitudes toward research and specifically, keyword search, Yahoo! Search Marketing partnered with Hall & Partners, and surveyed more than 450 respondents in the Having a Baby and Going to College life stages. The research was aimed at understanding attitudes during these life events and the need for reliable information sources. Respondents were asked to rate various research sources on a range of attributes to gauge importance, credibility, relevance and functionality. Broad level perceptions about online search were captured, as well as insight into how search was leveraged in the context of occasions specific to their life stage.
CLICK STREAM:
Using a panel of two million U.S. Internet users, Compete Inc. examined the online behavior of our qualified life segments and compared them to users in similar demographic profiles. A wide range of activities were observed, from total time spent online to search behavior to specific category shopping behavior across more than 500 retail sites.
About Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is the No. 1 Internet brand globally and the most trafficked Internet destination. Headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., Yahoo!'s mission is to provide online products and services essential to consumers' lives and offer a full range of marketing solutions to enable businesses to connect with Yahoo!'s hundreds of millions of users worldwide.
|
|
| Contacts |
|
|
|
|
|
Yahoo! Search Marketing
Kristen Wareham, 818-468-3184 | |
|
|
|
| |
Real Microsoft Settlement
by
Mnet
on Wed 12 Oct 2005 04:08 PM PDT
Beating their swords into market shares By JOHN MURRELL
After years of bickering, Microsoft has decided to pay a lot of money to climb into the sack with RealNetworks. The longtime rivals announced Tuesday
a settlement of Real's antitrust complaints against Redmond in the U.S. and Europe. According to News.com,
Microsoft will pay $460 million in cash to RealNetworks to settle antitrust claims. It will also pay $301 million in cash to support Real's music and games efforts and will promote Real's Rhapsody subscription music service on MSN. Microsoft can earn credits toward that $301 million by signing up subscribers via MSN. Added Bill Gates, "We've agreed, in the Windows front, to make our platform as effective as possible for Real," including, among other things, making the companies' digital rights management technologies interoperable.
The agreement clears the table of Microsoft's last major antitrust lawsuit in this country. The suit was filed by Real back in December 2003 and accused Microsoft of forcing its Windows Media Player on users, to the detriment of Real's player. The Real deal is the latest in a string of courtroom entanglements that Microsoft has paid its way out of in the past few years. In July, the company reached an $850 million deal with IBM. That followed a $1.6 billion settlement with Sun Microsystems in 2004 and a $750 million truce with America Online in 2003.
In an anticipatory note to clients, analyst Mike Latimore at Raymond James & Associates, said, "The promotional element of a potential settlement would be
a boost for RealNetworks' online media services, and the additional cash would support further acquisitions in Real's target markets."
|
|
